1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to ground maintenance apparatus which may be used for slicing, scarifying, dethatching and mowing of grass or turf. The ground maintenance apparatus of the invention may also be used for sweeping and vacuuming of turf. The invention is particularly directed at ground or turf aeration apparatus.
2. Background
Hitherto conventional ground maintenance or ground aeration apparatus is described in WO 99/09802 which relates to a movable vehicle having a slicing mechanism which comprises spaced cutters mounted to a rotatable support axle for slicing the ground. The support axle was attached to a sub frame which could be raised or lowered relative to a main frame for the purpose of assuming a non operational or operational position. In this arrangement V shaped slices may be imparted to the ground and this operation is advantageous in that it means that the ground is aerated facilitating the ingress of surface moisture to the root systems of grass or turf. Also the slicing operation enables ground aeration to be carried out efficiently where the least amount of damage is imparted to the grass or turf.
The ground aeration apparatus as described above can also be used for scarifying which involves removal of a top section of grass in rows 25–46 mm apart and at a depth of 3–5 mm. This is a necessary requirement for golf greens as it results in dethatching of golfing greens which involves removal of a matted surface layer of the green which is substantially imperious to flow of liquid therethrough and thus inhibition of moisture or fertiliser reaching the root system results.
In one conventional arrangement there was provided a turf aeration machine which was attached to a tractor having a scarifier rotor having counter rotating reels or blades fitted to a rotatable shaft which was driven by the power take off shaft of the tractor. A range of other rotors could be used in place of the scarifier rotor and these included a dethatcher rotor, flail rotor or broom rotor. If it was desired to vacuum scarified material instead of leaving it on the ground a vacuum pump was fitted to an output duct from the turf aeration machine which then sucked or removed scarified material from the scarifier rotor into a hopper which was attached to the turf aeration machine. There was also provided adjustable front and rear rollers with a flexible top linkage to the tractor that allowed precision height control and operation over contours and modulations. This turf aeration machine may be inspected at www.turfmach.com.
However a first disadvantage of this conventional arrangement was that it could not be used in wet or waterlogged conditions and thus this fact limited its use to dry conditions.
A second disadvantage of the conventional arrangement described above was that the turf aeration machine was connected to the tractor by a three point linkage wherein there were provided a pair of hydraulic arms of the tractor pivotally attached to a transverse bar of the turf aeration machine and there was also provided a fixed upper link between the tractor and the turf aeration machine. This meant that when a hopper was attached to the turf aeration machine upon turning of the tractor this resulted in skidding or lurching of the hopper. This meant that the combined assembly of trailer, turf aeration machine and hopper would only follow a straight line during operation. This factor severely curtailed manoeuvrability of the combined assembly of tractor, turf aeration machine and hopper.